Speakers at conservative conference hint at future of GOP

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during the Ronald Reagan Dinner at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., Friday, March 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

New York Times News Service

Published: Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 9:17 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 9:17 a.m.

OXON HILL, Md. — Mitt Romney came to the conservatives' yearly retreat here Friday and urged them to "make sure that we learn from my mistakes, and from our mistakes."

But what those lessons are, and what should be done about them, has been a matter of deep disagreement at the gathering. And that split over the lessons of the 2012 presidential election reflected an intensifying debate within the Republican Party: whether to change with the times to expand their appeal or reject pressure for moderation in the belief that only an ideologically pure message will rally voters.

Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, an early, potential presidential contender in 2016, made one of the most imploring, reflective speeches of the gathering by saying, "Never again can the Republican Party simply write off entire segments of our society because we assume our principles have limited appeal." It was an apparent, implicit rebuke of Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

In the same way, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, an Indian-American, called on his party to "recalibrate our conservative compass" by moving beyond Washington-based budget fights.

But Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky declared, "I'm a little tired of the hand wringing," then added a dose of tough love: "If you get your tail whipped, you don't whine about it. You stand up, and you punch back."

And former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, addressing "those in our movement who want to abandon our moral underpinnings so we can win," asked, with a touch of anger, "What does it profit a movement to gain the country and lose its own soul?"

Yet chatter throughout the convention hall revolved around the announcement by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, that he had changed his mind about one such moral underpinning, opposition to same-sex marriage, which he said he now supports in part because one of his sons is gay.

The cavalcade of conservatives spoke at an event that was part political seminar and part political circus.

Mingling in the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center here for the gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC, were Donald Trump with his trademark full hair; a man in a giant fluffy Benjamin Franklin head; and radio hosts selling books, including one that attacked the party strategist Karl Rove with a cover emblazoned with three letters frequently used as shorthand for a profanity-laced question.

Perhaps only at this gathering could Rove, who as much as anyone since President Ronald Reagan helped expand the clout of social conservatives in the party, be cast as unreliable — partly a function of his political organization's effort to be more pragmatic in backing candidates.

McConnell, in his remarks, called for unity in the form of continued opposition to President Barack Obama's health care law, which he vowed to overturn, and a strong Republican ticket in 2016, when he said the Democrats would field a ticket reminiscent of the 1980s sitcom "Golden Girls," about four older women sharing a home in Miami. He was referring, apparently, to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, 65, and Vice President Joe Biden, 70. McConnell is 71.

In the aftermath of successive defeats in presidential campaigns, the sense of conservatives turning on one another was palpable. Romney, for example, said his party should look to its governors for ways forward, particularly those from "the blue and purple states, like Bob McDonnell, Scott Walker, John Kasich, Susana Martinez, Chris Christie and Brian Sandoval."

But two on that list — McDonnell of Virginia and Christie of New Jersey — were not invited to this year's gathering after alienating some conservatives, McDonnell for endorsing a tax increase for a roads program and Christie for criticizing his party's leadership and working at times with Obama and the Democrats.

Romney did not get into specifics in his remarks regarding what he thought his mistakes had been, and made no mention of his much-maligned statement that "47 percent" of Americans were overdependent on government. But in the immediate weeks after Romney's loss, Republicans openly lamented how poorly he — and they as a group — had performed among Hispanics as well as other parts of the electorate.

Bush, who recently pulled back somewhat in his support for an outright "path to citizenship" for illegal immigrants, seemed to go the furthest in at least touching on the subject of immigration.

''As a nation, if we get immigration right, we're going to stay young," Bush said. "I'm here to tell you there is no 'us' or 'them.' The face of the Republican Party needs to be the face of every American, and we need to be the party of inclusion and acceptance."

With Portman's announcement about his new support for same-sex marriage, "inclusion and acceptance" took on new meaning here.

Younger conservative attendees, especially fans of the libertarian-leaning senator of Kentucky, Rand Paul, said in interviews that it was time for the party to move away from its opposition to same-sex weddings and to give up on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

''The Constitution doesn't give us the right to legislate on that," said Fiona Moody, a college Republican leader at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

But Larry Helminiak, the vice chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Carroll County, Md., said Portman's view was still very much in the minority of the party and would remain that way. "There's not a shot in hell it's going to be pro-gay marriage," he said of his party.

<p>OXON HILL, Md. — Mitt Romney came to the conservatives' yearly retreat here Friday and urged them to "make sure that we learn from my mistakes, and from our mistakes."</p><p>But what those lessons are, and what should be done about them, has been a matter of deep disagreement at the gathering. And that split over the lessons of the 2012 presidential election reflected an intensifying debate within the Republican Party: whether to change with the times to expand their appeal or reject pressure for moderation in the belief that only an ideologically pure message will rally voters.</p><p>Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, an early, potential presidential contender in 2016, made one of the most imploring, reflective speeches of the gathering by saying, "Never again can the Republican Party simply write off entire segments of our society because we assume our principles have limited appeal." It was an apparent, implicit rebuke of Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.</p><p>''Way too many people believe Republicans are anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker," Bush said.</p><p>In the same way, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, an Indian-American, called on his party to "recalibrate our conservative compass" by moving beyond Washington-based budget fights.</p><p>But Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky declared, "I'm a little tired of the hand wringing," then added a dose of tough love: "If you get your tail whipped, you don't whine about it. You stand up, and you punch back."</p><p>And former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, addressing "those in our movement who want to abandon our moral underpinnings so we can win," asked, with a touch of anger, "What does it profit a movement to gain the country and lose its own soul?"</p><p>Yet chatter throughout the convention hall revolved around the announcement by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, that he had changed his mind about one such moral underpinning, opposition to same-sex marriage, which he said he now supports in part because one of his sons is gay.</p><p>The cavalcade of conservatives spoke at an event that was part political seminar and part political circus.</p><p>Mingling in the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center here for the gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC, were Donald Trump with his trademark full hair; a man in a giant fluffy Benjamin Franklin head; and radio hosts selling books, including one that attacked the party strategist Karl Rove with a cover emblazoned with three letters frequently used as shorthand for a profanity-laced question.</p><p>Perhaps only at this gathering could Rove, who as much as anyone since President Ronald Reagan helped expand the clout of social conservatives in the party, be cast as unreliable — partly a function of his political organization's effort to be more pragmatic in backing candidates.</p><p>McConnell, in his remarks, called for unity in the form of continued opposition to President Barack Obama's health care law, which he vowed to overturn, and a strong Republican ticket in 2016, when he said the Democrats would field a ticket reminiscent of the 1980s sitcom "Golden Girls," about four older women sharing a home in Miami. He was referring, apparently, to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, 65, and Vice President Joe Biden, 70. McConnell is 71.</p><p>In the aftermath of successive defeats in presidential campaigns, the sense of conservatives turning on one another was palpable. Romney, for example, said his party should look to its governors for ways forward, particularly those from "the blue and purple states, like Bob McDonnell, Scott Walker, John Kasich, Susana Martinez, Chris Christie and Brian Sandoval."</p><p>But two on that list — McDonnell of Virginia and Christie of New Jersey — were not invited to this year's gathering after alienating some conservatives, McDonnell for endorsing a tax increase for a roads program and Christie for criticizing his party's leadership and working at times with Obama and the Democrats.</p><p>Romney did not get into specifics in his remarks regarding what he thought his mistakes had been, and made no mention of his much-maligned statement that "47 percent" of Americans were overdependent on government. But in the immediate weeks after Romney's loss, Republicans openly lamented how poorly he — and they as a group — had performed among Hispanics as well as other parts of the electorate.</p><p>Bush, who recently pulled back somewhat in his support for an outright "path to citizenship" for illegal immigrants, seemed to go the furthest in at least touching on the subject of immigration.</p><p>''As a nation, if we get immigration right, we're going to stay young," Bush said. "I'm here to tell you there is no 'us' or 'them.' The face of the Republican Party needs to be the face of every American, and we need to be the party of inclusion and acceptance."</p><p>With Portman's announcement about his new support for same-sex marriage, "inclusion and acceptance" took on new meaning here.</p><p>Younger conservative attendees, especially fans of the libertarian-leaning senator of Kentucky, Rand Paul, said in interviews that it was time for the party to move away from its opposition to same-sex weddings and to give up on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.</p><p>''The Constitution doesn't give us the right to legislate on that," said Fiona Moody, a college Republican leader at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.</p><p>But Larry Helminiak, the vice chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Carroll County, Md., said Portman's view was still very much in the minority of the party and would remain that way. "There's not a shot in hell it's going to be pro-gay marriage," he said of his party.</p>